Cheyenne Plaster hoped to make it to the fifth round of the Collier County Spelling Bee Tuesday evening.

Not only did she make it to the fifth round, she made it to the 14th. By spelling metabolism and perilous correctly, the 12-year-old became Collier County's newest spelling bee champion.

"I can't believe it," she said. "The kids here were very good at spelling."

The secret to Cheyenne's success?

"Being home schooled," the sixth-grader said with a laugh. "My mom helped me so much."

Mom Angie Plaster said Cheyenne's win was a family effort.

"We quizzed her so many times," she said with a laugh. "I am very proud."

More than 40 middle school students from Collier County public and private schools, as well as students who are home schooled, participated in Tuesday evening's bee, which was held in the School Board meeting room of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Administrative Center, 5775 Osceola Trail.

Tiana Ferrante, 12, placed second in the competition. The home schooled seventh-grader misspelled accelerate in the 14th round.

"I am so happy for Cheyenne," said Tiana. "I am so happy I made it this far. I couldn't have done it without my family."

As the winner of the 2008 Collier County Spelling Bee, Cheyenne advances to the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be held May 29 and 30 in Washington, D.C. Cheyenne will be among 300 students nationwide to participate in the bee.

She said she's the most excited about flying on a plane, her first trip by air, to the nation's capital.

The national bee is sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Co., which owns the Naples Daily News and its affiliated publications. The Daily News is one of the local sponsors of the bee and sponsors the winning student's trip.

Corkscrew Middle School sixth-grader Kenya Senescharles said had one goal for herself in the Collier County Spelling Bee.

"I don't want to get out in the first round," she said.

She did make it through the first round, correctly spelling fiend.

Community School of Naples student Manuel Montori, 14, who was making his second trip to the Collier County spelling bee, said he practiced frequently before the spelling bee, but the day of, he tries to avoid looking at the works.

"You don't stress out so much if you do it that way," he said.

Manuel missed a word last year because he misheard it. He vowed that it would not happen again.

"I know now that you repeat the word and ask you for the definition," he said. "It gives you extra time and it makes sure that you know the right word. Sometimes they don't sound the same up on stage."

First Baptist Academy sixth-grader Noah Nemni drew the first laughs of the night, after correctly spelling canasta. His jaw dropped when he heard he had spelled it correctly.